Washing and cleaning composition



Patented Nov. 25, 1941 2,263,729 WASHING AND CLEANING COMPOSITION Wini'rid Hentrich, Dusseldorf-Reisholz, and Eberhard Elbel, Dusseldorf, Germany, assignors, by

mesne assignments, to The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio No Drawing. Application August 5, 1937, Serial No. 157,524. In Germany August 8, 1936 8 Claims.

This invention relates to washing and cleaning compositions and to their production.

An object of the invention is to provide cleansing compositions which are readily soluble in cold or tepid water, which foam readily and which excel because of thEir good washing and,

cleaning powers, and more particularly to produce such compositions through the use of certain soaps which do not possess such combination of properties.

The valuable washing and cleaning compositions of the present invention are constituted by a soap component produced from hard fatty compounds, i. e., fats and fatty acids, and by a second component consisting of water soluble salts of compounds of the general formula R.-Ar-O-R-COOH wherein R. is an aliphatic or cycloaliphatic group containing at least 4 carbon atoms, Ar is an aromatic group-and R is an organic group.

This application is an continuation-in-part of our copending application Ser. No. 99,958, filed September 9, 1936, and having a convention date of September 10, 1935.

The soap component of the compositions of the present invention is preferably a salt of a saturated carboxylic acid containing 16 or more carbon atoms, for example, palmitic acid, stearic acid and the like, and as well their mixtures containing a small portion of acids of a somewhat lower molecular structure, or of unsaturated acids. The raw materials for these soaps may comprise hardened fats or hardened fatty acids, which raw materials comprise or are obtained from animal fats and oils such, for example, as blubber oils, including whale oil and sperm oil, and also vegetable oils, as, for example, soya bean oil, linseed oil, castor oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, and other like compounds. Instead of using the whole fatty acid content of these oils, it is preferable to employ fractions of the same containing principally the saturated acids of 16 and 18 carbon atoms.

In accordance with a specific embodiment'of the invention, soaps are used which are producible from natural fats or fatty acids which are already hard or relatively hard, such as tallow, particularly pressed tallow, which has preferably been fractionated in order to obtain the saturated acids having 16 or more carbon atoms.

The second component of the washing and cleaning agents of the present invention, comprising water soluble salts of carboxylic acids of is preferably an aliphatic radical containing at least 4 carbon atoms, such as butyl, secondary butyl, amyl, isoamyl, octyl, di-isobutyl, dodecyl,

secondary dodecyl, tri-isobutyl and hexa-decyl radicals. Alternatively, this R component may be an alpha-oxohexyl, alpha-oxo-octyl or an alpha-oxo-decyl radical. It is not necessary that the R component be of aliphatic nature for it may be a cycloaliphatic group of the nature of a cyclohexyl radical or the methyl cyclohexyl radical.

The Ar of the above mentioned formularefers to an aromatic group which may be mononuclear or polynuclear in character, with or without side chains or radicals. Examples of rvitable aromatic groups include those of benzol, toluol, diphenyl, diphenyl methane and naphthalene.

The R component of the above mentioned formula refers to an organic group which constitutes with the COOH portion of the formula a carboxylic acid radical. The carboxylic acid from which this group is derived is preferably of low molecular weight, although higher molecular weight compounds may be employed, providing the molecules are not of sufiicient magnitude to prevent ready solubility of the compound. In preparing this component, the RCOOH portion of the molecule is preferably derived from hydroxy carboxylic acids, suitable examples comprising hydroxy acetic acid, hydroxy propionic acid, hydroxy butyric acid, hydroxy valeric acid and other aliphatic acids, or salicylic acid and 1 other aromatic hydroxy acids, or hydroxy dicarboxylic acids such as malic acid, and the like.

' As specific examples of the second component,

there may be mentioned water soluble salts ofother acid herein mentioned, there may be used the general formula R--Ar--'OR--COOH, may be of varied character. The R component the analogous lactic acid derivatives or salicylic acid derivatives.

The ratio of the components ofthe washing and cleaning agents of the present invention may be varied within wide limits to suit the particular purposes for which the compositions are intended since the temperature, nature of the Water and other conditions naturally afiect the qualities of the compositions. Ordinarily, compositions produced by the use of equal quantities of the components are satisfactoryv but theamount of the soap component may be increased without the loss of effectiveness under many conditions of use, for example to 70%, in which case the second component will comprise 30%. w

The present invention is independent of any method by which the two components are made into a homogeneous mixture.'" Satisfactory "re-' sults may be obtained by the introduction of the second component, that is thefalkyl aryl ether carboxylic acid salts to theunfinished soap or to a soap solution. If desired, the acids of the said salts may be mixed with the raw materials from which the soap is produced and the two neutralized in a single operation to produce the salts and soap simultaneously. The salts may satisfactorily be worked into the soap mass, 0

instead, mixed therewith in a rollerfmill.

Thecompositions of the present invention may be introduced to the market in the form of powin factories.

If; special'properties are desired for industrial applications," the above product may be mixed with additional quantities of alkaline agents such as sodium pyrophosphate, also or alternatively 'with-per compounds such as sodium perborate ders, bars, flakes, shreds, solutions or pastes. If

a powder is desired, the same may be formed by atomizing and simultaneously drying'a solution of a mixture of the two components.

The new compositions as described above may be used as toilet soaps, as washing agents for textiles and as cleansing agents and for all types of apparatus, and are-excellent substitutes for ordinary soap suitable for'general use.

The present invention is not limited to compositions containing only the components here-' inbefore mentioned, for washing and cleansing,

agents may be prepared which possess excellent properties by adding thereto any number of other materials that have in the past been suggested for use in soap compositions. As examples of materials which may be added, there may be mentioned alkaline reacting agents such as soda,.

various salts of the phosphoric acids, silicates and borates. Compounds which give off oxygen, such as peroxide and the per-salts may also be incorporated in the compositions. in which case stabilizers of conventional nature for the per compounds may be employed. Also, various solvents and synthetic washing agents may be used to impart special properties to the compositions.

Example 1 Two hundred and forty-five parts by weight of a shredded sodium soap prepared from hardened whale oil, together with 90 parts by weight of a mixture of the sodium salts of substituted cresoxy acetic acids, the substituting radicals joined to the nucleus being secondary alkyl groups containing from 6 to 12 carbon atoms, and also with 3.3 parts by weight of wool fat and a small quantity of perfume oil, are mixed together and then worked up together until a plastic mass is obtained, which mass is then pressed and cut in a conventional wire cutting press. Through this procedure, relatively transparent pieces of soap are obtained which when used produce good foam and also dissolve in cold water forming a slightly turbid solution. However, in tepid or warm water, the solution obtained is quite clear. Surprisingly effective cleansing properties are found in solutions of this composition.

Example 2 Thirty-five parts by weight of a soap comprising sodium salts prepared from hardened whale oil, together with 15 parts by weight of the sodium salt of para-normal-octyl-phenoxy-acetic and with stabilizers.

The resulting compositions constitute washing and bleaching agents which may be used with considerable eflectiveness in the arts. v

'The washing and cleaning compositions hereinbefore described possess numerous advantages with respect to their production and as well with I respect to their .use. As raw materials. many domestic fats and oils maybe used, thus obviating the necessity of relying onimports.

Difficultly soluble and poorly foaming hard fatty soaps may be improved by the addition of the agents herein described to such a degree that they readily dissolve in cold or tepid water and possess good foaming powers. The washing and cleansing properties of the new compositions are equally as efiective as those .of a good quality soap.

It should be understood that the present invention'is not limited to the specific examples hereinbefore' given, but that it extends to all equivalent materials coming within the scope of the terms employed in the claims appended hereto.

We claim:

1. The process of increasing the water solubility, foaming and detergent powers at cool and warm temperatures of sodium soaps of hard fatty compounds which contain principally fatty acids of 16 to iii-carbon atoms which consist in incorporating in said soaps a water soluble salt of a compound of the general formula wherein R is selected from the group consisting I of aliphatic and cycloaliphatic radicals containing at least 4 carbon atoms, Ar is at least one monocyclic aromatic group and R is an allphatic'group of not more than 5 carbon atoms.

2. A washing and cleaning composition comprising a water soluble sodium soap of a hard fatty compound, which soap is poorly soluble in warm and cold water, in admixture with a water soluble salt of a compound composed of alkylphenoxy-acetic acid, said alkyl radical being a secondary alkyl radical of 6 to 12 carbon atoms.

3. A washing and cleaning composition comprisinga water soluble sodium soap of a hard fatty compound, which soap is poorly soluble in warm and cold water, inadmixture with a water soluble salt of a compound composed of pnormal-octyl-phenoxy-acetic acid.

4. Washing and cleaning compositions which comprise sodium soaps of hardened fatty compounds which are poorly soluble in warm and cold water, in admixture with water soluble salts of compounds composed of an alkvl-phenoxycarboxylic acid, said alkyl radical having at least 4 carbon atoms and said carboxylic acid radical being an aliphatic radical of not more than 5 carbon atoms, said compositions being readily soluble in warm water and having good detergent and foaming properties.

5, A washing and cleaning composition which comprises a sodium soap mixture of hardened whale oil base together with a water soluble salt of a compound of the general formula '7. A washing and cleaning composition which comprises a sodium soap mixture of hardened whale oil base together with a water soluble salt of a compound composed of p-normal-octylphenoxy-acetic acid.

8. A washing and cleaning composition comprising a water soluble sodium soap of a hard fatty compound, which soap is poorly soluble in warm and cold water, in combination with a water soluble salt of a compound of the general formula R-Ar-O-R'-COOH wherein R is selected from the group consisting of aliphatic and cycloaliphatic radicals containing at least 4 carbon atoms, Ar is an aromatic group selected from the benzene and naphthalene series and R is a lower molecular aliphatic group of not more than 5 carbon atoms.

WINFRID HENTRICH. EBERHARD ELBEL. 

